Divisions
by Therealbatman1
Summary: Arendelle is a vast empire, but divisions among the people run deep. (Weekly updates on Sundays)
1. Chapter 1: Divisions

**Chapter I**

_Divisions_

The divisions started a long time ago. No one could recall exactly when. Some younger, more naive people said that they started when the Zone Walls went up, but the older folks—the ones who had been around long enough—knew better. They knew that the Zone Walls were just a reflection of the prejudice beneath. They also knew that the divisions had started a millennia before. Exactly how long ago was unclear; perhaps they had begun when the first primates climbed down from their trees; perhaps they had begun when the third World War had ravaged the European nations. However they began, the platinum-haired noble-girl didn't care as she gazed out the dark palace window. All she knew was that the walls were ugly, and the prejudice, uglier. She found her mind wandering back to her first trip outside of Zone 1's comfy border wall into the depths of the poorest part of the country.

The scene that had displayed itself before her had been sickening: people sleeping in the streets, garbage, run-down houses and pollution, disease. She remembered vividly how her had stomach lurched at the sight of a man whose leg was torn and bleeding and covered in open sores. Her heart ached for her people, but her peers, her father—the king—and her servants showed no such pity. She remembered with deep sadness the cold expressions on their faces and she closed her eyes. The memory almost brought tears to her eyes when a familiar voice brought her back from her reminiscing.

"Elsa,"

"Yes, father?"

"Are you listening?"

Elsa looked him in the face attempting to decipher the meaning of his words. Suddenly, she remembered where she was and she blushed, "I apologize, I was lost in thought."

She thought he looked annoyed, but he continued unfazed,

"Once the border wall for Zone 44 has been finished, we'll be completely protected from our African enemies to the south."

Elsa internally rolled her eyes. She suffered through her father's prejudice littered ranting and finally found an opportunity to slip away when his royal advisers stole him. She successfully made it to her bedroom without talking to people and shut her door behind her. The princess felt what little energy she had left drain from her body as she sank to the ground. Spending the entire day meeting new people and listening to her father's racist rhetoric had drained her of what little energy her raging insomnia had spared her. She had intended to go to bed, but sleep overtook her.


	2. Chapter 2: Freckles

**Chapter II**

_Freckles_

Red hair whipped through the air and blue eyes shone. A young couple ran hand-in-hand through the dimly lit, snow-blanketed streets of Zone 13, laughing as they turned into a darkened alleyway. The man—who was tall and lanky with messy red-orange hair—brushed the soft, freckled cheek of the girl standing before him. She was much shorter than him and only came up to his shoulders when standing straight up. Her dazzling blue eyes met his gaze, full of affection. He cradled her chin with his thumb and his forefinger, and slowly moved in for a kiss. The girl closed her sparkling eyes in anticipation for the feel of his lips on hers. He came closer and, just before his lips touched hers, he pulled away, looking her in the eyes,

"Not yet, Anna. Let's save it for a more special moment."

Her face flushed with disappointment, frustration, and finally, she looked sad.

"You've been saying that for months, Hans. We've been dating for almost a year and we haven't so much as kissed; I'm getting a little impatient."

He knew this, of course, but even though it had already been ten months, he still was unsure of how he felt about his red-haired girlfriend. He enjoyed her company, but he didn't know if he could really call that love. Of course, he knew that he shouldn't be leading her on, but he knew that telling her would break her heart, and that was the last thing on his to-do list. Maybe just a few more weeks and he would make up his mind.

"I know, I know," he said, "but I don't know if I'm ready yet."

He knew she'd understand, but it still pained him to treat her like this.

Just one more week and I'll make up my mind.

Anna slammed the door to her room in frustration. It had been three weeks since her near-kiss with Hans in the darkened alley of the slums, and she still hadn't gotten him to kiss her. _Why wouldn't he just do it?_ Was he really waiting for a special moment or was he cheating on her? _That's unfair and unreasonable,_ she thought._ He was probably just scared, right?_ She tried to push it out of her mind and turned her thoughts towards less unpleasant things. She looked around her tiny room, they were poor, but not so poor that they couldn't get by without at least three meals a day. Other people around them were less lucky—Zone 13 was one of the poorest in the nation. It was also home to nearly thirty percent of Arendelle's 740 million person population and by far the largest Zone; so large, in fact, that it had subdivisions: 13-A through 13-Z-II, twenty-seven subdivisions in total. Each subdivision was a city if you could call them that. The "cities" were really the size of one of the old, small European countries. City 13-A—the largest subdivision—was closer to the size of Texas in the United States of America. It also possessed its own subdivisions: thirteen in total.

There were forty-four Zones in total. Each one was the ghost of the old European countries. Zone 44 was the most recent addition. Until roughly 70 years ago, it had been the tiny country of Montenegro, but when the third World War had ravaged Europe in 2021, it had been taken by the Neo-Nazi Coalition. After the liberation of Europe and the Arendellian absorption, Montenegro was annexed by Croatia—that was until Croatia was annexed by the Arendellian Empire. Seizing the opportunity, Montenegro—at this point known as Monor-Croatia—liberated themselves from the Croatian occupation.

For forty years Monor-Croatia was free, and Arendelle considered it a sovereign nation. Until its economy crashed in one night and the royal family had been unable to help its people. Arendelle leaped at the opportunity and pressured (with some force) them into giving up their land. The royal family had been given noble status and was now living in the capital—Zone One. With the addition of Zone 44, Arendelle now controlled the entire European Continent. Its immense size and power alone should have secured the safety and welfare of its people, but the Empire was more dangerous and impoverished than in the whole of its history. The one percent—the wealthy and the powerful—had virtually barricaded themselves from the rest of the country in the capital—by far the richest Zone. Anna lived in Zone 13, not the poorest, but the most diverse Zone. She was a third-generation immigrant. Her family had immigrated to Arendelle from France (when it had still been a country). Her grandfather was an Irishman and her grandmother, a Frenchwoman.

Anna sighed. She really didn't want to think about her family history. She looked out her window attempting to distract herself from getting lost in thought when her attention was caught by the strangest thing she'd ever seen—and Anna had seen a lot of strange things. It wasn't her posture that caught her attention, nor was it the way she carried herself. It wasn't even the fact that her clothes were spotless and new. No, it was her unparalleled beauty that caught Anna's gaze. The girl was as pale as the snow that fell during the winter in Zone 13. From what the redhead could see, the girl's eyes were a crisp, electric blue and her hair was an icy platinum blonde. Her face flushed. That's no way for a girl in a relationship to think. Nevertheless, she ran to her window to watch the girl who walked past, seemingly awestruck by her surroundings. _Has she never seen the slums before?_ She smirked to herself._ She must not be from around here._ She shrugged the thought away and went back to her moping.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter III**

_The Girl With The Red Hair_

Elsa had finally had it. Months after the completion of the border wall in Zone 44, she had made up her mind: she was determined to see her people whether or not her father would let her. He had not, so she slipped out into the night past the infinite layers of security. The Castle defenses worked perfectly against anyone trying to get in; the automated turrets could lock on to a heat signature from up to 10 miles away. It didn't, however, stop a princess from exiting. Especially when that princess had spent the entirety of a month planning how she was to escape. She opened her bedroom door and checked the hall. _Clear._ She stole down the hall with her bag of essentials. It wasn't much, but she didn't expect to be gone long. Maybe a few hours, maybe a day. It depended on how quickly it took the royal guard to find her. With all their advanced tracking technology and their ships, she didn't anticipate getting far.

She kept walking and she tried to ignore her anxiety as it grew steadily. _Where is that door?_ She finally spotted it: the transport room. Normally it was guarded every second, but she had been watching closely for a month, and every so often—especially on Friday nights, there was a gap between guard shifts, as they would leave early to watch whatever sport it was they were obsessed with in the breakroom. The gap was short but long enough for her to slip in and use the transport tube. She had considered stealing a wall speeder but had thought better when she remembered that she would probably get shot. So the transport tube it was. One of the guards yawned and checked the time. He motioned to his partner that their shift was almost over and they left their post. Once they were out of sight, the princess ran to the doors and slipped inside, closing the door quietly behind her. She turned around. There they were, the machines that had won Arendelle the Third World War: the transport tubes.

When they had first been invented, the transport tubes were weapons of war, allowing small squads of troops to teleport anywhere in the world. With its creation, Arendelle had been able to send elite squadrons to infiltrate heavily armed strongholds of the terrifying new Neo-Nazi empire. The transport tubes won Arendelle the war, but the Americans had been infuriated and terrified by the terrible weapon. So they had threatened war against Arendelle if she didn't restrict its use of her new invention. Queen Arendelle III agreed and, after the war, limited their use to public transportation from one transport tube to another.

Elsa tried to select her destination. She paused; she knew that as soon as she pressed the button to transport, the castle security would be alerted by the unauthorized usage. She would have to put as much distance between herself and her destination as possible. The only question was where to go. She gazed at the holo-map of the massive Aredellian Empire. Immediately, Zone 13 stuck out to her. An inaudible melody seemed to intertwine itself subconciously with her pounding heart. She had no doubts about it; that was the one. Three taps later, Elsa was looking out a transparent transport tube at City 13-A: the heart and capital of Zone 13.

City 13-A was located in the old capital of Russia—the first nation to fall in WWIII—and, even though it was a city and not a Zone, it was larger than all of the Zones in Arendelle. Elsa immediately felt overwhelmed and sensed the beginning of a panic attack. She controlled her breath. _Conceal don't feel,_ she rehearsed. Pushing aside her thoughts, she forced herself to move forward. She didn't know where to go, but the melody forming in her mind kept her moving until she found herself facing a particularly slummy street. She ran. Her legs seemed to move of their own accord and after about a mile or so she felt like she had put enough distance between herself and that horrible machine. She finally slowed down and looked around at the strange new environment, feeling overwhelmed again. _Where should she go?_ Walking aimlessly down the street, she caught a flash of red in the corner of her eye in a window above, but when she looked, it was gone. Her heart throbbed in her chest and she felt the melody—no, the voice now—scream at her from that window. She shook her head. No, she must've been imagining it. Taking no note of it, she continued as before.

Three hours passed, and Elsa was lost. She knew that the Zones were big, but she hadn't fathomed the sheer immensity of the territory. The walls were even bigger up close. Of course, she had been near them before, but she had been more interested in the people. Now she stood before the vast structures that separated the Zones in awe of their immensity. They stood four hundred feet high, each built with an earthen and stone core, plated with steel three feet thick. She looked to her sides. They seemed to stretch on forever disappearing into the horizon, and a gigantic yellow triangle with the Zone number was painted on every few miles or so. Had her great grandfather actually seen these constructed? It suddenly struck her how long she'd been staring at the barriers and she looked around herself. The streets had been mostly abandoned when she'd first arrived, but now as the sun was coming up. People began to fill the streets.

It quickly became apparent to her how starkly she stood out among the people of Zone 13 in her fresh, clean garments. She realized she would need to find a way to blend in, or she might be caught or worse, she might become a target. She was aware of how dangerous Zone 13 was, she was, after all, the princess. Upon finding a streetside vendor, the princess bought herself some clothes with what little money she had. She tried her best to blend in with the people around her. She realized that she would have to find a place to stay, so she headed towards the city square. Elsa found herself in the middle of a chaotic street, filled with hundreds of people, all going about their lives, all struggling to make a living, and for the first time since she had arrived in City 13-A, she pitied the people who lived there. Her heart broke once again for her people and for her father who showed no empathy towards his subjects. And right there in the middle of the crowded street, she made an oath to herself that when she became queen, she would not follow in her father's footsteps. Whatever it took, she would be there for the citizens of her country.

She continued lost in thought and unaware of her surroundings and unaware of the redheaded girl running towards her, equally unaware of her surroundings. Their heads collided and everything went black.


	4. Chapter 4: Sleep

**Chapter IV:**

Sleep

Anna held an ice pack to her throbbing forehead muttering curses to herself. Her head still throbbed. She should have been paying attention to where she was running, but she had been too focused on what Hans had said. Her head spun. Whether from the millions of indistinguishable emotions or the still-swelling lump on her forehead, she wasn't sure._ He wants to move to Zone 1?_ How on earth did he expect to be able to afford that? Living in the wealthiest Zone in the country was way beyond his means—beyond their means. Besides, he hadn't even asked her if she wanted to come with him. And even if he had, she didn't think she wanted to move. Zone 13 was her home. It always had been. She couldn't imagine leaving the city she loved.

She hadn't intended to do it, but her legs had moved of their own accord. Anna didn't remember running out of his house, but she did remember hot tears flooding her eyes. Of the millions of possible reasons for her lamenting, she wasn't sure which was causing the watery deluge. So the heartbroken girl ran through the crowded streets trying to get as far away from that house as possible. The next thing she knew, her head had collided with the girl's, and she was on the ground. When she had regained her senses, she saw before her the familiar figure of the girl whom she had been admiring earlier that day, sprawled out on the ground. Without thinking, she had brought the girl back to her own house, where she now sat watching the rising and falling of the girl's chest.

Looking up at her now, it struck Anna how incredibly pale the girl was. She noticed it before, in the alley, but now that she was up close, she could see that her skin was almost the color of the snow that fell outside. Her cheeks and her nose were slightly rosy as though she was freezing. _Shit_. She probably was freezing. She felt the girl's cheek. _Fuck._ She was freezing. She stood up and ran to grab the girl a blanket. After a while, she again put her hand against the girl's cheek._ How the fuck is she still so cold?_ She did what she could to keep the girl warm with the blankets she could find and returned to her thoughts.

* * *

**Author's note: **

Apologies for the length of this chapter. This weekend has been super crazy with finals and projects and this is all I could squeeze in. There's more coming soon, I promise! Thanks for reading!


	5. Chapter 5: Elsa

**Chapter V:**

_Elsa_

Elsa ran. '_He's never going to catch me.'_ Hiding behind a pillar, she waited for her pursuer.

"Elsa!" a voice rang through the main hall of the royal palace. "I'm gonna find you, and when I do, you're gonna be in big trouble!"

She stifled a giggle and tried to slow her breathing. He was never gonna find her. She listened as footsteps ran down the hall, and a door slammed shut. Was he gone? She peered cautiously around the pillar when, suddenly, a small figure jumped on her back, and she started.

"Kristoff, get off of me!"

"Not until you give back Mr. Reindeer!" shouted her little brother.

Elsa gripped the plush animal in her hands.

"Not until you say sorry for knocking over my castle!"

"That was an accident! Besides, you shouldn't have been playing in front of my door!"

He was right, of course, and she had intended to give the stuffed animal back to him after a few more seconds, but when he began beating her with his fists, she quickly changed her mind.

'Be careful, Elsa,' she thought before she retaliated, 'you don't want to hurt him.'

She swung around in circles in an attempt to free herself of the little tyrant's grasp, when at that moment, the door nearest them opened and their mother, Iduna's face appeared, obviously peeved.

"Kristoff, get off of your sister's back this instant!" she warned.

"But she took Mr. Reindeer!" he protested.

"Only because you broke my castle!"

"Enough." the queen commanded. "Both of you ought to be ashamed of yourselves for such behavior. That is not how a prince and a princess should act. Especially when ambassadors from our allied nations are visiting"

Kristoff climbed off his sister's back.

"Yes, mother," they said in unison with their heads hung.

Their mother looked at them for a minute, and her rare angry face softened.

"Now both of you go, I expect you to be prepared for your baths by the time I get there.

"Yes, mother," and they scrambled off to their rooms.

* * *

The last time Elsa remembered talking to her mother was when she sat on her bed, snuggled against her mother's side with Kristoff, who was on Iduna's other side. He had already dozed off and had been snoring contently. Iduna's soft voice lulled her to sleep. But just before she closed her eyes heavy, heavy eyelids, she looked up in her mother's loving eyes and said, "I love you, mommy."

"I love you too, darling," replied her mother lovingly.

That night, the queen became very ill and died. The royal family was never the same.

* * *

Elsa awoke with a pounding headache. Her vision blurred as she tried to sit up. '_Where am I?' _She tried to think, but the throbbing in her skull prevented her from forming a coherent thought; instead, she sat still in her strange new environment, struggling to remember how she had gotten there. A gentle voice broke her from her puzzling.

"Hey, you're awake."

Elsa looked around, searching for the source of the voice. Her eyes rested on a girl sitting in the corner, causing her to blush. '_How can someone be so gorgeous?'_ The girl's auburn hair was captivating. Her Olympic-seafoam-blue eyes shone with curiosity and her multitude of freckles looked like the stars. Elsa realized she was staring and blushed again.

"Where am I?"

"You're in my house. I wasn't paying attention to where I was going, and we ran into each other. I'm really sorry."

With those words, Elsa was reminded of the unfortunate accident which left had caused a noticeable bulge on her forehead. She rubbed the aching spot and asked, "Who are you?"

"Oh my god, sorry, I totally forgot to introduce myself! I'm so sorry, I really should have done that. My name is Anna. Anna Bjorgman, that is, and this is my house. Wait, did I already say that? I think I already said that. Anyway, nice to meet you. Wait, what's your name?"

Elsa sat up and swung her feet over the edge of the bed. She stood, bewildered by the girl's odd manner, and answered, "My name is Elsa, pleased to meet you." She moved to bow and then thought better. If I want to blend in, I should probably refrain from practicing royal etiquette. She sat back down.

"I saw you earlier," Anna blurted out.

"What?"

"In the alley. I saw you from my window. You looked pretty. I mean- pretty lost." She shook her head with her last statement. "Are you new here in Zone 13?"

"Oh. Yes, I suppose. I mean, yes, I am new to this Zone."

"What are you here for? Sorry, that's none of my business."

"No, it's fine. I have no purpose other than to explore and see new places."

The girl appeared genuinely confused.

"There's not a whole lot in Zone 13 unless you like snow and- wait! I know a place you would love!

"Oh?"

"Yeah! C'mon, I'll show you!" She grabbed Elsa's hand to pull her along and immediately withdrew.

"Oh my god."

"What is it?" Elsa asked worriedly.

"You're freezing."

"Am I?" She pressed her hand to her cheek and frowned. It felt normal to her.

"Do you want to borrow some gloves? I have an extra pair if you need some!"

"No, thank you. I believe I will be alright."

"It's really cold outside."

"The cold has never really bothered me."

"It's 10° below outside. Please, I insist you take them." She pushed the gloves she already held into Elsa's hands. The princess discerned that the girl standing before her would not relent, so she took the gloves and slipped them on.

"Thank you."

"You're welcome."

There was an award pause as Anna stared at Elsa with a stupid smile. Elsa returned the smile akwardly, and her cheeks turned red. She laughed nervously and asked,

"Would you like to tell me about this place where you are taking me?

Anna's face turned bright red as Elsa watched her realize that she was staring.

"Oh! Sorry, I was lost in thought."

She grabbed Elsa's hand and started to walk off again.

"There's this place in the center of town called the 'North Mountain Café.' It's this gorgeous little coffee shop that has a really good view of the lights!"

"Oh," Elsa hesitated, "I don't if I should. I mean- I just met you, you don't have to go out of your way to show me this place."

"Oh trust me, it's no bother, I was planning on going before I asked you." She looked back at Elsa and added, "Plus, you can think of it as my way of paying you back for not looking where I was going."

She dragged Elsa to the front door and put on a ratty jacket and her gloves. Handing Elsa a sky-blue winter coat, she opened the front door and stepped outside, making sure to lock it behind them. She grabbed Elsa's hand again, and off they went into the city.

It was very bright in the alley outside Anna's humble abode. Snow covered the ground in a thick layer, making the narrow passage seem even brighter. It gave a satisfying crunch beneath the boots Elsa had borrowed from Anna. At the end of the alley, they reached the main road and turned towards the center of the city. They walked for about thirty minutes before they arrived at a two-story building with a blinking sign on the front that read "North Mountain Café." They opened the door and walked in. Immediately, warm air and the smell of freshly ground coffee hit them and the tension built from walking in the below-freezing wind deflated from the girls. The North Mountain Café was a coffee shop built in an old two-story house. Upon entering, Elsa saw that the space had been utilized well. In what she guessed had initially been the dining room, there were several small tables and one long table with benches on either side for seating. The living room space was also being used as a sort of lounge area. There were couches and armchairs all arranged to face what she assumed was a fireplace. She couldn't see because a wall blocked her view. To her left was the main counter which was covered in coffee machines. Beside it were the registers, and next to that were more tables and chairs. The shop had a pleasant, quiet atmosphere, and the pair felt pressured to speak in hushed tones. It's almost like the library in the royal palace.

Elsa loved her library. Well, it was really her father's library, but Elsa called it hers anyway because she spent the most time there. She adored her father's book collection, and, when she was a child and had more free time, she used to spend hours upon hours devouring his countless books. The coffee shop also had an extensive collection of books on shelves lining many of the walls, adding the smell of old pages the already delicious aroma filling the air. She sniffed, trying to pick out and savor the distinctive fragrances that seemed to dance around her nose in a sweet, playful fashion. Something about the smell of this little hole-in-the-wall coffee shop seemed to snatch of the real world as if she had stepped into a place where time didn't pass, as if reality had been put on hold until she stepped back outside into the cold. There were many different aromas she tried to pick out: the smell of freshly ground coffee, the intoxicating perfume of old books, the inviting fragrance of bread, fresh out of the café's ovens, but there was something else. Another scent, something so incredible that all the others seemed to vanish. This something filled the air and flooded her senses, overwhelming her brain, and screaming for her attention. She marveled at how something so little could have such a powerful effect on a person. Elsa sighed.

Anna seemed to have picked out the same smell because she too sighed, and in unison, they thought aloud,

"I love chocolate so much."

Anna looked at Elsa, excitement filling the auburn-haired girl's eyes.

"You love chocolate too?"

"I adore it, probably more than what is considered healthy."

Anna smiled wide at her.

"I'll be sure to get some of that."

They bought their drinks and picked a table on the second floor next to a big window. Watching the snowfall outside, they sipped their coffee in contentment. Elsa gazed out the window, taking in the view. City 13-A wasn't much of a sight to behold, but the afternoon light shining through the light snowfall, the abundance of trees, and the city square's giant Christmas tree, almost made it look warm and beautiful—not quite, but almost.

"Thank you for bringing me here," said Elsa.

"You're welcome," Anna replied, beaming. "It's the least I can do for knocking you out."

Elsa smirked. She figured this would be an opportune moment to learn a little more about her people, so she sat up a little straighter and said, "So tell me about yourself. Who is Anna Bjorgman?" The question caught Anna off guard, and Elsa watched with some amusement as she scrambled to regain her composure.

"Me? Oh- yeah- well, of course. Um..," The redhead blushed. "What do you wanna know?"

"Well, what kinds of things do you like to do? Do you have any hobbies?"

"Oh, well, I like a lot of things; I like drawing and painting and playing guitar; I also play a lot of sports, but mostly I just enjoy being around other people."

"So would you say people are your hobby?"

"Yeah. What about you? What do you like to do?"

Elsa thought for a moment.

"I really like the things that you mentioned—art and music and sports—but my favorite thing to do is write."

Anna was about to respond, but before she could finish opening her mouth, Elsa stood abruptly. She gazed out the window and watched as several police cruisers followed by royal guard shuttles parked in front of North Mountain. "Um, I have to go to the bathroom." Meeting Anna's eyes, Elsa turned and walked away before Anna could respond. She made her way to the bathroom. Panic welled up inside the platinum hair girl as she stepped into a family restroom and locked the door behind her.


End file.
